October project: Backlit/silhouette - White Egret

[RichardLaBella]

Caught this egret just as the sun dropped below trees.

Canon 7D, 500L, f/5.0, 1/5000, ISO 200, -1ev
Cropped to vertical
C&C appreciated

[David Gancarz]

I very much like the mood you present. Very serene. Your departure from a pure silhouette works well. There is just enough front lighting to show the white plumage and I like the blues and blacks in the water and ground, respectively. I also like the spotlight effect on the ground just beneath the subject. I see a bright spot on the lower mandible which I take to be a water droplet Well done.

[Randy Stout]

Richard:

Good critique from David. I might consider a very slight crop down from the top.
This one would be fun to tweak with a bit more exposure, bit less, just to see how the feel changed.

Cheers

Randy

[ericbowles]

Nice image - I like the detail.

The background seems a bit dark. I agree with the suggestion to adjust exposure or just adjust the background.

It might also work well with a bit tighter crop - particularly off the top and a little off the bottom.

[Arthur Morris]

Though I do like the fluffed up plumage the mild backlighting with the rather dark BKGR does not work for me. Richard, see if you can arrange for a few Snowy Owls at West End this DEC please :)

[Daniel Cadieux]

For me this image has lots of potential. Tweaking the shadows on the egret (making them darker), while retaining the rim-light and see-through lighting would work well. I'd also crop some canvas off the bottom, perhaps up to half the perch (although I realize the image is already cropped alot). Thanks for participating in this month's project Richard!!:)

[RichardLaBella]

Thanks all for your comments. I applied the suggestions and think I got a little more from the image. There are just so many ways this shot could be handled.

And Artie, we are all hoping for a visit this winter from the Snowy Owls.